Back in October, just days after Boy Ryan announced that he would have the unenviable task of replacing Jordan Taylor as Wisconsin’s starting point guard, Josh Gasser blew out his knee.

But this wasn’t just a simple torn ACL, which is why Gasser is still a couple of months away from returning to the court despite the fact that he’s nine months removed from the injury.

“They told me my injury was one of the more complicated ones they had to deal with because of multiple ligaments, and it may be a little longer,” Gasser told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. He tore his ACL, LCL and meniscus. “I’d love to be ready now, but I’m not going to rush it. As long as I’m ready for the first game and the first practice.”

The good news for Gasser is that we are in early July. He has plenty of time to get ready for next season; there’s no point in rushing back from an injury when it will be four solid months until the Badgers play an actual game.

When Gasser returns, he’ll join a back court that will have some solid depth. Traevon Jackson and George Marshall were both forced into major minutes last season, and both looked impressive in spurts. With Gasser back in the mix, Ryan will have no shortage of experience in his back court.

The question will be up front. Who will join Sam Dekker in replacing Jared Berggren, Mike Bruesewitz and Ryan Evans?

While the answer is an unknown at this point, I have no concerns about Ryan finding a way to make his front court competitive.

Before Berggren, Bruesewitz and Evans became starters, did anyone think that we would actually be saying that Wisconsin could struggle to replace them?

If we’ve learned anything about the Badgers, it’s that they always, always, always have big men coming through their pipeline.